History of Identity Theft – How Identity Theft started

History of identity theft goes all the way back before computer was even invented. There were takeovers of companies, personal property etc through misuse of circumstances when power of attorney was given to someone trusted. Throughout the history of identity theft, there are hundreds of examples where embezzlement of money had been carried out by bank functionaries using the information they had at their disposal regarding the bank clients.

The history of identity theft includes fraudulent traveling under other people’s names, withdrawal of cash by falsification of signature on the checks, obtaining insurance money under other people’s names and many more. People think that identity theft is s developed in the wake of computerization and is something new.

If we look closely into the history of identity theft, we will find that this crime was around since a very long time ago. The computerization and the advancement in technology made it much easier to people to do such things.

The sources and the crime are not new but only in some cases the methods might be new. According to some reports, 65 percent of the identity thefts that take place today are still based on information obtained without the help of computers. The history of identity theft has allow us to learn about some of the sources as follows.

• Information can be stolen from your email where your new checkbooks can be intercepted, where your credit card statements are sent.

• The commonest source for information is the humble dustbin. The papers you throw in dustbin can contain vital information. This could be from your credit card statements, your ATM slip, your checkbook stubs or any other information.

• Records that is available to them during the course of their job. For example bank employees for financial records, nurses for medical records, insurance employees for insurance records etc.

As we understand the history of identity theft, we learn that such crime is not only happening on the internet. It can be anywhere and you have to prevent yourself from being a victim.

February 22 2007 01:41 pm Del.icio.us Digg Furl